Vladimir Gabrielyan was 75 years old when he passed away. He and his wife Rayisa are refugees from Baku and moved to Dastakert during the Karabakh war. Vladimir worked at the medical equipment factory in Dastakert until it closed down. The couple had no children.
Lilit at home in Dastakert. Her father Rudik moved to Dastakert from Baku 23 years ago. To help her family get by, Lilit works in a neighbor's field, picking berries and harvesting grass for animal forage. Lilit’s dream is to leave the small town and move to Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.
Zhenya, 13, suffers from an eye infection at home in the village of Metz Masrik. Her grandfather Robert, a refugee from Azerbaijan, often rummages through the garbage in search of items to burn at his dilapidated home (for cooking and heating).
Robert Khachatryan, 69, rummages through the garbage in Metz Masrik village, searching for items to burn at his home (for cooking and heating). He is the eldest of an 11-member household and is originally from Aygestan village in Azerbaijan.
Zakhar, the village veterinarian, jumps into a dump truck, which doubles as a hearse at funerals in the town of Dastakert. 70% of the residents in Dastakert are refugees from the cities of Baku, Sumgait or Kirovabad.
Zoya Gevorgyan is the mayor of Shatjrek village. A refugee from Azerbaijan, she is one of two female village mayors in the region. “It’s tough being a female mayor because you think with your heart and soul, just like a mother.”
In Kut village, Benyamin, 9 (first from left) collects metal from abandoned homes to sell in order to buy clothes for younger brother Davit, 7, who is ill and in need of warm clothes. The Balassanyan family are refugees from Azerbaijan.
The Ter Grigoryan family, although not refugees themselves, are one of the poorest in the refugee village of Jaghatsadzor. They struggle daily to survive alongside their refugee neighbors. Before authorities stepped in to help, the family was planning to keep the children from school because they could not afford proper clothes.
Four of Grisha’s seven children in the bedroom where all nine members of the family sleep, warmed by a wood-burning stove. Grisha and his wife are refugees from Kirovabad. They live in an Azerbaijani family’s abandoned home.
Gevork, 21, at home in Tretuk village. He lost his arm in a firefight with Azerbaijani forces while patrolling the border. At the hospital, he fell in love with his nurse but her parents have forbid the relationship because of Gevork’s disability.
Vera Mejlumyan and her family fled from the town of Shahumian in Azerbaijan to Jaghatsadzor village in the late 1980s during the Karabakh war. Unable to find work in the village, Vera has decided to leave for Russia.
The Ter Grigoryan family, although not refugees themselves, are one of the poorest in the refugee village of Jaghatsadzor. They struggle daily to survive alongside their refugee neighbors. Before authorities stepped in to help, the family was planning to keep the children from school because they could not afford proper clothes.
The walls of the Hovhannisyan’s home in Shatvan village. Hovhaness, the father of the family, is a refugee from Azerbaijan. He took out a $1000 bank loan at 24% to buy seed for planting which he is unable to pay back. The family is awaiting a court decision which may result in losing their home.
Veronica with son Vitalik in Tretuk village. Veronica moved to Tretuk from Sumgait when she was 14. She’s a single mother with two boys — both of whom live at an orphanage for most of the year because she is unable to care for them.
The Hovhannisyan children in Shatvan village have not had a birthday celebration in years, as the family cannot afford it. Their diet is mostly soup, with meat being a rare luxury. The Hovhannisyans are refugees from Azerbaijan.
Mrs. Janeta serves coffee at her home in Shatvan village. Refugees from Azerbaijan, Janeta and her 10-member household are barely able to make ends meet. Janeta cleans out cow dung from neighbors’ barns, earning $8 per job.
In Tretuk village, this abandoned home of an Azerbaijani family has been inhabited by Grisha, his wife and their seven children since they moved to Armenia from Kirovabad. Grisha cannot find work and the family lives on government subsidies.
Men working at the cemetery in the town of Dastakert, where 70% of the residents are refugees from the cities of Baku, Sumgait or Kirovabad. The town’s men are anxiously awaiting the reopening of a copper plant in Dastakert, which, despite its detrimental effect on the environment, promises desperately needed jobs.
At the Hovhannisyan’s home in Shatvan village. Refugees from Azerbaijan, the family is unable to repay a $1000 bank loan they took at 24% to buy seed for planting. A dry spell destroyed the crop and the cow used as collateral died.
Vladimir Gabrielyan’s final resting place in the hills above Dastakert — he was 75 years old when he passed away. He and his wife Rayisa moved to Dastakert from Baku during the Karabakh war. The couple had no children.
Abandoned homes in the town of Dastakert are Alik’s playground. His parents are refugees from Azerbaijan. Originally 4,000 residents lived in Dastakert, whereas today there are only 320 people left, mostly refugees.
Refugee Realities in the Border Villages of Armenia
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SaraAnjargolian
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This series of images, created in seven different villages in Armenia in 2011, illuminates the daily realities facing refugee families living along the border with Azerbaijan.
The majority of refugees currently living in Armenia arrived from Azerbaijan after the war broke out between the two countries over the Karabakh territory in 1988. Over a million people from both countries were displaced, including some 360,000 ethnic Armenians who left Azerbaijan for Armenia.
Although a cease-fire has held since 1994, the peace is frequently interrupted by gunfire, which has resulted in both military and civilian deaths on both sides of the border. Many ethnic Armenians, who once lived in Azerbaijan’s largest cities, including Baku, Sumgait, and Kirovabad, have now settled in Armenia’s rural areas and are coping with the challenges of village life. Surveys conducted by international and local organizations place refugees among the ranks of the poorest in Armenian society. Their socio-economic problems revolve around the lack of permanent housing, adjusting to the demands of rural life, unemployment, lack of access to social welfare and health care, and difficulties integrating into the larger Armenian society.
Now, over twenty years since leaving behind their former lives, most refugee families in Armenia’s border villages barely eke out a fragile existence.
Haunting, stirring, incredibly sad photos beautifully shot. Another amazing series Sara!
Hi Sara! Nice series of photos. Homeland Handicrafts has just started up in Vardenis, which is quite close to six of the seven villages. I hope in the future to be able to reach out to the women of these villages too with our handicrafts development project. Thanks for shedding light. Tim
How complicated can it be for any diaspora organization to directly help these unfortunate people without any middle man getting involved. A few pieces of clothing and containers of food. All it takes is the will to do it, nothing else. Oh, yes we complain and are upset that people are leaving our homeland.